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Understanding cost of APR stage 2 above cost of stage 1

FLcarguy

New member
I received a holiday discount quote, including labor, from my local APR dealer for both Stage 1 and separately Stage 2. Stage 1 + TCU tune is $1,500 and to bump up to a stage 2 (intercooler, Dp, Carbon fiber intake, dogbone mount, spark plugs etc) is 6k.. Am I missing something? . An extra $4500 ($1,200 of that being labor) for 30 more horsepower and a certain warranty Void??
 

Father Seth

Go Kart Newbie
Location
SoCal
Car(s)
2015 Golf TSI
I received a holiday discount quote, including labor, from my local APR dealer for both Stage 1 and separately Stage 2. Stage 1 + TCU tune is $1,500 and to bump up to a stage 2 (intercooler, Dp, Carbon fiber intake, dogbone mount, spark plugs etc) is 6k.. Am I missing something? . An extra $4500 ($1,200 of that being labor) for 30 more horsepower and a certain warranty Void??
If you go only with APRs products and the shops labor then it sounds about right. BUT the only real requirement for stage 2 is just a DP, the other mods are just recommended supporting mods. APR is very expensive so if you DO want those mods you can easily find some that offer the same performance way cheaper. You can probably install most of them yourself to save on labor as long as you're comfortable wrenching on your own car. FWIW I'm not too mechanically inclined and I'd feel comfortable doing all of those but the intercooler myself.

If they charge you labor for the tune alone I'd say you should look around for other shops if it isn't too inconvenient, a few charge only for the tune and don't even bother with labor.
 

Derushi

Go Kart Champion
Location
Rain
Car(s)
Long
I received a holiday discount quote, including labor, from my local APR dealer for both Stage 1 and separately Stage 2. Stage 1 + TCU tune is $1,500 and to bump up to a stage 2 (intercooler, Dp, Carbon fiber intake, dogbone mount, spark plugs etc) is 6k.. Am I missing something? . An extra $4500 ($1,200 of that being labor) for 30 more horsepower and a certain warranty Void??

Stage 1 also certainly 'voids' warranty. All aftermarket ECU tunes do. Well, not necessarily void, but, most of the time VW will likely deny warranty work if anything engine related goes.

For stage 2:
Intercooler - Yep, should, especially if you're in Florida
Downpipe - Yep sure
Intake - Nah
Dogbone mount - Yeah, but maybe try out the 034 dogbone mount first...
Spark Plugs - Maybe, most people seems to have good success just staying stock plugs, especially at those power levels.

If you're planning on Stage 2 anyway, just skip to an IS20. Get an Intercooler, Downpipe, and a used IS20 turbo (lots going around...).
 

MeltedSolid

Autocross Newbie
Location
San Francisco Bay Area
Car(s)
'15 Golf, e36 328i
That price sounds about right for the list of things, but you have TONS of unneeded stuff. As mentioned, the only thing necessary for stage 2 is the downpipe.


The intercooler is useful, but not required and requires a bunch of labor to get in (removing front bumper, etc...), and it's better to go with a cheaper intercooler as the more expensive ones are just overpriced. The Unitronic intercooler is a middle ground, and people have had success with even the cheap ebay intercoolers.

The Carbon fiber intake is 100% looks and effectively makes no difference at all to engine performance on the mk7 (the stock airbox is pretty good). I would ditch that entirely as it's also extremely overpriced.

The dogbone mount is a fantastic mod in general, but it's a single bolt so I recommend doing it yourself.

Spark plugs are more of an as needed thing, and are also very easy to do yourself, but they probably aren't a significant cost adder.


Also, that shop is ripping you off big time, even for stage 1, with the APR holiday discount the price of stage 1 + TCU tune is $1100, so the shop is trying to charge you $400 to sit there with a computer for 15 minutes while something loads. They are scummy.
 
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Sparky589

Drag Racing Champion
Oh yeah, labor for installing my tunes has always been ~$50 for the shops I've been to. Shop is definitely ripping you off for that one.
 

Sumfuncomet

Go Kart Newbie
Location
Severomorsk, Russia
Car(s)
2018 Mercedes E63 S
I second on the download fee. My shop doesn’t bill for it. Everyone is right, Stage two is expensive for the gain compared to stage one. My car definitely is a beast, over 300hp with AWD and a stick!! It’s a unicorn for sure. I have R seats in my Alltrack which were a HUGE improvement in comfort, cornering security and adjustability. I bought used 2016 R seats and they were plug and play!!!
 

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